Our take on: End coslty redistricting fight

September 14, 2011

Heed judge's call

It's past time that state House Speaker Dean Cannon and U.S. Reps. Corrine Brown and Mario Diaz-Balart stopped battling the will of the people on redistricting.

In November, an overwhelming 63-percent of the people voted to end gerrymandering in Florida. But Cannon, Brown and Diaz-Balart stubbornly pursued a lawsuit against Amendment 6 anyway, claiming it was unconstitutional.

Eight months later, on Friday, U.S. District Judge Ursula Ungaro needed only five minutes after the close of oral arguments to rule that the so-called Fair District Amendment doesn't mess with the Legislature's right under the U.S. Constitution to draw districts. Rather, Amendment 6 just adds conditions, Ungaro noted.

Conditions that should stop congressional districts from being drawn so unfairly, i.e. partisanly, where incumbents almost never lose elections. Those are conditions that Cannon, Brown and Diaz-Balart just haven't been willing to accept.

After the ruling on Friday, Brown and Diaz-Balart said they'd appeal — all the way to the U.S. Supreme Court if necessary. And a spokesperson for Cannon said the state House is reviewing the ruling to determine "whether further action is appropriate."

Enough.

What's appropriate is for the threesome to follow the will of the people. To stop their legal maneuvering (which has cost taxpayers more than $1 million). And, by giving up their opposition, mercifully put an end to their mockery of representative government in Florida.